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Barack Obama
Barack Obama is the 44th president of The United States of America and is the first African-American President ever. He is born on August 4, 1961 in capital of Hawaii, Honolulu. He is married to Michelle Obama, also known as the first lady, and has two daughters Sasha and Malia. He is a Democratic. His first term was back in 2009, after successful election, where he won the presidential nomination and won over John McCain, and then became the President of The United States on January 20, 2009. Obama is a graduate of Columbia University. He was a civil rights attorney and fought for equal rights. Before his presidency he had a big campaign to represent Illinois, his victories got him the presidency and from January 20, 2013 was his second and last term as the president of The United States of America. 1 What made Obama the first African-American President and did he win his first election because of his race and his speeches about it?' '' Barack Obama’s success was mostly because of his race. The voting poll from the President campaign came to a whole 53 percent overall to Obama. After the first election it was shown of all votes that the African-Americans resulted in the highest votes, and white people were the least in the voting poll.2 – The voting poll shows us a clear sign that African-American voters are more likely to vote for a n1 African-American candidate because of the effort to equalize African-Americans. In Obamas situation, the most important things are race and equal rights. Discrimination between white and blacks was a problem and still is, but it was worse 50 years ago. After he got his presidency, he doesn’t speak much about race and racism, sometimes when race really becomes a national problem under his presidency and there are a lot of media “coverage” he uses speeches about it and tries to get attention and solve the issues that are going on under his presidency. Before he became president, back in 2008 he held a speech named “A More Perfect Union”. In this speech he talks about racial tensions, race and inequality. ''“By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children, but it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins”'3' In this part of the speech, he states that United States is growing when you start to appreciate one another, that it is a start for a country to grow, and it has been since the Constitution was formed. The relationship between the white and blacks is compared in his speech, he uses the Constitution to get people to understand that every man, woman and child has equal rights, and that just because you have a different skin color it doesn’t make you any different. This speech helped Obama very much in his final election, but although his speech is about race it is not only about getting votes. Many black people supported him and saw him as one who could do something about the race problem, like Martin Luther Kings ‘I have a dream’, people saw Obama as a person who could do something because of his race. Martin Luther King’s speech and Obamas have the same message, the Negro want freedom and equality and they will fight until they are free and have equal rights. ''“This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”''4 Martin Luther Kings ‘I have a dream’ speech is much like ‘A More Perfect Union’ when it comes to appreciation for people and your surroundings. Obama and Martin Luther King fought for the same thing, but there is a difference between them. Obama fought for it to get more votes and also for equal rights but King was more willing to fight for it, King didn’t try to win a election, . In his famous speech he uses the Emancipation Proclamation. You can see how they fight for the equal rights differently, who knows if Obama did it for the presidency, for votes or because of his skills as a civil rights attorney? King was also a civil rights attorney but he was a civil rights leader. As a reader that gives us a different perspective than if a candidate from the Senate tries to become president. It is well known that politicians do anything for votes and don’t always promise what they say. But many people after his first election still ask the same question, how did Obama become the first African-American president even with more than 250 years with only white presidents? Race and segregation, whites and blacks are the answer. Most of the time before he became president on the first term, he held many speeches about race, but not only that. He did speeches about the general problems in the US, and his suggestions on how they can get fixed, he could get many votes within the inequality subject, even if the discrimination between blacks and whites is lower today than 50 years ago, the black community still want equal rights and what is more perfect than a African-American to make a difference and influence. Barack Obama won many votes because he himself is a African-American and many other African-Americans wanted equal rights, his speeches gave him many votes, he won both terms and it shows how he runs the country, but not everything can be a hundred percent perfect. He became president because he fought for a better America, just like Martin Luther King, but we now live in 2013, finances in the United States are a big problem and the race problem is still a problem in America, but it is better than it was 50 years ago and hopefully it will become better. Sources ---- 1 President Obama - The White House 2 Obama and the Burden of Race (2009), Lawrence D. Bobo, Ph.D. - page 16 3 Text of Obama's speech: A More Perfect Union 4 I have a dream - Martin Luther King (1963) ----